Synthetic drugs have not been part of the UK drug market, they are super strong drugs much more potent than drugs that have been in Scotland over the last few years. Despite that Scotland has a drug death rate as high as North America which has been flooded with these drugs over the last decade.
Can you even think about, contemplate or imagine how bad things could get?
With some of the highest death rates in the world from drugs, I have personally lost a number of close family and friends. Year after year this continues, funeral after funeral, lost sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters
Having started the first drug consumption injecting space in the UK from the back of an old transit van and then later an upgraded decommissioned ambulance my job is done in Glasgow now they have opened an official site so I have to move to the next project.
Although charged one day for an alleged obstruction of Police the service I ran was never closed down.
I want to fundraise so I can attend the Harm Reduction International conference 2025, as these synthetic drugs are more and more in Scotland and the UK of course the worry is super high that deaths are going to increase even more than they already are. The official state run DCR in Glasgow is costing and estimated £2.3M for year one, this is WITHOUT drug testing or inhalation.
The worlds most active campaigners, activists and those who have led civil society and started projects without asking for permits will be at this conference. I want to raise is enough for my flight, I am unemployed and can't find work, lets face it, the organisation in the UK want yes people who will not speak up for fear of losing out on the next contract as they all compete against each other.
A charity offered me a job after running the first unsanctioned DCR in the UK which left me with a large profile and they wanted me to raise the profile of the organisation, I put on a conference with a 5 month window from October 2022 with the conference taking place in February 2023. To give you an idea of why everyone knows who I used to work for, these are some of the national and international speakers who came because I asked them to, Aamer Anwar, Zoe Dodd, Kassandra Frederique, Kojo Koram.
This elevated the org to so that job is done now, everyone knows who they are in the UK and around the world due to the work I did and they clearly they had no need for my skills after that so I am now unemployed. If any money is left over I will put that towards a laptop as I have a very old one which is close to falling apart.
Thank you in advance for your help, as I have a little experience of harm reduction and civil disobedience I think I now understand how to manage the overall projects, but being at HRI25 will give me the chance to talk with some of those front and centre in other civil society and disobedience projects.
I intend doing what the 3rd sector should be doing, but lets face it lots of talk and no action is not going to save people, we have orgs sitting about on teams meetings for years talking about starting DCR's, how many do we have in the UK, ONE? And it only just opened after I personally gave up my life to prove it could be done in current legal frameworks.
And when I say gave up my life, I mean everything, I lost everything I had including months and months in my two kids lives, time I will never get back, yes I am bitter as people are still dying in record number, and that big house, new car and fancy jacuzzi I had in my back garden, I won't ever get that back, but I don't want it, I just want my friend and family to stop dying.
Please if you can help I need to be at this conference.